Valentina is no longer in deep sht. It’s been official for a while now, since she tricked the so-called ‘Thunderblts’ — consisting of Bucky, Yelena, Alexei, John, and Ava — into becoming her New Aveng*rs, effectively curtailing an investigation into her sketchier activities as director of the CIA.

All that really remains is to tie up any and all loose ends from the entire incident. The Void Incident, and everything before that from Project Senty and O.X.E. — her black ops project — in general. Except Bob, really. He’s here to stay, living with the New Avengers in the newly renovated Tower. He may not be a team member (if you get Senty, you also get the Void, unfortunately), but he does do the dishes.

One of Valentina’s technicians is looking at footage from the O.X.E. facility months after the fact, switching over to the aerial footage of the whole incident with discovering Bob’s power, when he notices something interesting. On the other side of the facility, there’s a small explosion. Not noticeable at the time, given their focus on Bob, but…hm.

On the footage, a young man stumbles out of the facility, clothes singed from the Vault incinerator. He shouldn’t be alive, shouldn’t have survived a literal incinerator, and yet…there he is. Alive, clothes burned but seemingly no worse for wear otherwise.

The technician watches the footage from around the area, noticing the young man make his escape by attaching himself to the bottom of one of the vehicles. He’s gone entirely unnoticed, until now that is.